A city in crisis

The U-T San Diego Editorial Board met July 22 with San Diego City Councilman Kevin Faulconer, at his request, to discuss the impact on City Hall of the ongoing sexual-harassment scandal involving Mayor Bob Filner. The interview occurred hours before a news conference at which Irene McCormack Jackson, Filner’s former communications director, became the first woman to step forward publicly with a lawsuit alleging sexual harassment by the mayor. Below is a condensed transcript of the interview with Faulconer.

Q: Will the fact that at least one woman is now going public with allegations of sexual harassment by the mayor increase the pressure on him to resign?

A: It remains to be seen. And it has to be a very difficult situation for these women to have to come forward. I can only imagine. There is pressure on the mayor. The eyes of the country have been on San Diego for all the wrong reasons this last week. As somebody who has been on the council now for seven years, the senior member of the council, I have been a part in helping to turn this city around. When we look at where we were before — the negative publicity, the financial scandals, and all the work that we have done — and to see us now going back to those days, that is not something that any of us should accept. I am going to do everything that I can to ensure that we are moving the city forward. In fact, in an hour from now I will be standing up with Council President Todd Gloria, both of us together, bipartisan, saying exactly that message: that the business of the city will proceed. We will use our ability, all the powers given to us as a City Council, in terms of oversight, in terms of holding the mayor’s office accountable, in terms of having the department heads and directors accountable to the city [and] our City Council committees. We need to make sure that the city functions, trash is picked up, streets are repaired, when you call 911, those services are there. These are very difficult times.

Q: What if the mayor simply continues to refuse to step down? What are your options?

A: That is only a question for the mayor at this point. He has to do the right thing for the city of San Diego. And I hope he changes his mind, because when we look at not only the day-to-day operations of the city, but as we look ahead and we look to the future — as we are trying to attract businesses to come and invest in our city, as we are looking to create jobs, as we look at people who want to invest in our city and move projects through — it is going to be almost impossible for them to realize that there is any certainty of process in the city of San Diego with everything that they have seen over the last several months. We have to do our best to try to turn that around.